Hesperian Health Guides and the contributors to Where Women Have No Doctor
do not assume liability for the use of information contained in this book. This book
should not replace properly supervised, hands-on training. If you are not sure what to
do in an emergency situation, you should try to get advice and help from people with
more experience or from local medical and health authorities.
This health guide can be improved with your help. We would like to hear about
your experiences, traditions, and practices. If you are a midwife, traditional birth
attendant, village health worker, doctor, nurse, mother, or anyone with suggestions for
ways to make this book better meet the needs of your community, please write to us.
Thank you for your help.
Copyright © 1997, 2012 by Hesperian. All rights reserved.
Hesperian encourages others to copy, reproduce, or adapt to meet local needs any or all parts
of this book, including the illustrations, provided the parts reproduced are distributed free or at
cost—not for profit.
Any organization or person who wishes to copy, reproduce, or adapt any or all parts of this
book for commercial purposes must obtain permission from Hesperian.
Before beginning any translation or adaptation of this book or its contents, please contact
Hesperian for suggestions about adapting the information in the book, updates on the information
provided, and to avoid the duplication of efforts. Please send Hesperian a copy of any materials in
which text or illustrations from this book have been used.
First edition: June 1997
Fourth printing: April 2010, update: 2012
Printed in the USA on 10% recycled paper
ISBN: 978-0-942364-25-5 paper
by Worldcolor
For the most updated editions of this and other books, visit our website: www.hesperian.org.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The Library of Congress has already cataloged the 10-digit ISBN as follows:
Where women have no doctor : a health guide for women / by A. August
Burns ... [et al.] ; edited by Sandy Niemann, assistant editor, Elena
Metcalf.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-942364-25-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Women--Health and hygiene. 2. Women’s health services.
3. Community health aides. 4. Medicine, Popular. I. Burns, A.
August (Arlene August), 1952- . II. Niemann, Sandy.
RA564.85.W46 1997 97-19421
613’.04244--dc21 CIP
health guides
1919 Addison St., #304
Berkeley, California 94704 USA
www.hesperian.org